Rotary drum drier

ABSTRACT

A rotary drum drier for mud, in which stripper knife means in the form of a plane rail-shaped member are detachably and adjustably mounted on a supporting member located approximately in the horizontal central plane of the drum and also comprises guiding ribs which are arranged independently of and below said stripper knife means.

United States Patent inventor Josef Peter Mount [56] References Cited Holntmt 55. Kerkrade, Netherlands UNlTED STATES PATENTS H g f-": "69 2,466,297 4/1949 Ball et al 34/136 la 1 3; i, 2,845.254 7/I958 Howden 34/l 35 Prior", Mn 1968 3,469,326 9/l969 Unger 34/!37 Germany Primary Examiner- Edward J. Michael P I! 29 431.4 Attorney-Walter Becker ABSTRACT: A rotary drum drier for mud, in which stripper x knife means in the form of a plane rail-shaped member are US. Cl. 34/132 detachably and adjustably mounted on a supporting member Int. Cl F26! "/06 located approximately in the horizontal central plane of the 34/135- drum and also comprisesguiding ribs which are arranged indel 38 pendently of and below said stripper knife means.

7 3 A D 6 7 i a l 1r I Allll HIM t H r PATENIEH JUL sum 3,590 494 sum 2 OF 2 INVUN'H )h. if z)? 7 oum BY ROTARY DRUM DRIER The present invention relates to a rotary drum drier for mud, especially pond mud, which has a flame extending into the interior of the drum or has a heating gas connection and a device which is directed against the direction of rotation of the drum and is adapted to lifl off from the drum wall the material to be dried and to convey the same. This device comprises a knifelike stripper and guiding ribs arranged on said stripper and directed at an incline with regard to the direction of rotation of the drum. Rotary drum driers of this type are employed for drying coal, sand, minerals, ores, and the like, in various fields.

Strippers for rotary drum driers have become known in the form of a worm which, however, have the drawback that their life span is relatively short because the outer edges of the worm windings are subjected to a considerable wear whereby the distance between the inner wall of the drum and the worm and consequently the thickness of the layer of material remaining on the wall of the drum continuously increases.

Furthermore, a rotary drum drier has become known in which the material to be dried which is pressed by centrifugal force against the inner wall of the drum is by means of a knifelike stripper stripped off from the drum wall and by means of ribs arranged on the knife blade of the stripper and extended at an angle with regard to the direction of rotation of the drum is conveyed in the longitudinal direction of the drum. While with such a stripper the wear is reduced because the stripping knife alone carries out the major portion of the wear producing work, namely the lifting off of the material from the wall of the drum, the construction and arrangement of the knife and of the guiding ribs is expensive to produce and assemble. Moreover, the entire length of the drum does not assure a uniform distance between the stripper and the drum wall.

It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a rotary drum drier which will overcome the above mentioned drawbacks.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a rotary drum drier in which, in case an exchange of the stripper should become necessary, such exchange can be carried out in a minimum of time and by simple manipulations.

It is still a further object of fliis invention to provide a rotary drum drier as set forth in the preceding paragraphs, in which the elements which might have to exchanged are simple in construction and inexpensive in production.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide a rotary drum drier as set forth above in which, in case it is necessary to equip the stripper device with parts consisting of a special material, for instance with a part of particularly high wear resistant steel, it will be simple to equip the stripper with such material.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will appear more clearly from the following specification in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 diagrammatically illustrates a rotary drum according to the invention showing the stripper rail and the guiding ribs.

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal section through the rotary drum with the stripper rail and the conveyor plates.

FIGS. 3, 5 and 6, 7 respectively illustrate different embodiments of details and their arrangement in the drum according to the invention.

FIG. 4 shows the stripping and conveying device at the ends of the drum at the level of the inlet and outlet openings.

For solving the problems underlying the present invention, the present invention intends to produce the stripper device of the rotary drum drier as an automatically exchangeable part which can be produced easily and at low cost and can in a minimum of time and with a minimum of effort be exchanged and which furthermore will be completely independent of the conveying device which latter is likewise simple in construction, for instance in the form of a plate, and merely has to convey the material.

A rotary drum drier of the above mentioned type is, in conformity with the present invention, characterized primarily in that the stripper forms a plane raillike member which is detachably and adjustably arranged on a traverse which is located approximately in the horizontal plane of the drum, while the guiding ribs are independently of the stripper arranged below the latter. ln contrast to heretofore known devices of the type involved, according to which a rib equipped scraping knife or a worm is employed for stripping and conveying, with the rotary drum according to the invention, only plane rail or platelike elements which can be easily mounted and exchanged will be employed. In view of the simple shape of the rail employed as stripper and the plates employed as guiding ribs, not only will the manufacture of these elements be inexpensive but the adjustment of these elements to the desired angular position and the most favorable spacing from the wall of the drum will be possible independently of each other and without great effort.

Preferably, the guiding ribs are formed by plane plates the horizontal central line of which is parallel to the same line of a cross-sectional plane of the drum.

According to a further development of the invention, the stripper rail and the guiding ribs are held on a profile frame or pipe by means of a guiding plate located in the longitudinal direction of the drum, said plate being so arranged that the scraped off material will be kept away from the wall of the drum.

The stripper rail may be adjustable relative to the guiding plate in a direction parallel to the plane of the rail and parallel thereto and may be exchanged in the same manner. Thus, greater distances of the rail as they are caused by the automatically occuring wear can in this way easily be compensated for.

Preferably, the stripper rail may in the longitudinal direction of the drum be subdivided into individual pieces so that there exists the possibility of exchanging sections of the stripper rail which have worn to a greater extent or to change the location of such sections relative to adjacent rail sections so that it will be possible to reduce the replacement stock for a rotary drum drier to a minimum over that necessary with heretofore known rotary drum driers.

Particularly in view of the design of the stripper rail and of the guiding ribs according to the present invention, the drying mud, specially of pond mud, becomes economical to a greater extent.

in order to take into consideration the different wear requirements within the drum, the profile or frame carrying the stripper rail and the guiding ribs may at the level of the inlet and outlet openings for the respective material in the drum support bent guiding and conveying plates which may be of any known design. The exchange of such plates which are primarily intended for conveying the material in the longitudinal direction of the drum is possible in a particularly simple manner through the said openings of the drum. The plates are generally not subjected to any major wear because in view of the openings in the drum wall they have to exert a scraping effect only to a minor extent and have to carry out only conveying actions.

It is of particular advantage to provide the stripper rail with finger-shaped prongs the front end of which extends behind the front edge of the rail and which are arranged in spaced relationship to each other on the rail.

Referring now to the drawings, the material to be dried is passed from the top into the funnel 1 from where it moves into a housing 2 having journaled therein two conveyor worms 3 one only being visible in FIG. I, said worms extending in the direction of the arrow A. At the end of the worms 3 the material drops in the direction of the arrow B through openings 4 of a horizontally extending drum 5 into the latter. The other end of drum 5 is provided with corresponding discharge openings 6 through which the dried material is withdrawn. Into the interior of the drum 5 which, for instance through a gear drive 7, is rotated in such a way that the charged material is pressed against the inner wall of drum 5, there extends a burner 8 adjacent to the discharge openings 6. Burner 8 produces a flame which is directed in the longitudinal direction of the drum 5. While the hot flames and flue gases flow in the direction of the arrow C, and through the openings 4 pass to the flue gas discharge 9, the material to be dried is moved in the direction of the arrow D to the discharge openings 6. The scraping off of the material from the interior of the drum and also the transport of the material to be dried from the inlet openings 4 to the discharge openings 6 is effected by a device generally designated I0. This device 10 comprises a stripper rail 11 (FIGS. 3, 5 and 6, 7) which ex tends in the longitudinal direction of the drum 5 and also comprises separate conveyor vanes I2 which serve as guiding ribs and are inclined with regard to cross-sectional planes through the drum and are arranged one behind the other.

The rail ll may be subdivided into individual rails and in the form of a smooth plane body extends parallel to the longitudinal axis of the drum. The manufacturing costs for the rail II are extremely low. As will be explained further below in detail, the mounting and the manufacture of such rail offer no difliculties whatsoever.

The guiding ribs or conveyor plates I2 consists primarily of smooth plane plates or the like while the inclination of the plates with regard to the cross-sectional plane of the drum is provided in one direction only which means according to one coordinate, and no double inclination along two coordinates is necessary. While a double inclination is possible, it is not necessary because the plates or vanes 12 merely serve the purpose of transporting, whereas a guiding plate I3 will see to it that the material is kept away from the interior wall Id of the drum.

The support of the members II, 12, I3 is preferably effected by meansofspipe I! which islocaiedwithinthedrurn 5 so as to be nonrotatable. To this end, the end faces of the drum, may, for instance, be provided with corresponding means.

Spaced from each other and perpendicular to the pipe there are welded to the pipe supporting ribs I6. One end face I7 of said ribs I6 has welded thereto a guiding plate 13 which thus likewise extends parallel to the pipe IS in the longitudinal direction of the drum 5. The supporting ribs I6 may have mounted thereon a holding strip or holding rail 18 (FIG. 3) which supports the stripper rail II which latter is detachably supported by and connected to the rail 18, for instance, by means of screws I9.

Within the angles between the holding rail or strip I8 and the guiding plate 13 there are serially arranged a plurality of guiding ribs or conveyor vanes 12 which are welded to their respective supporting portions. if desired, the guiding ribs or conveyor vanes may also be made adjustable as to their inclination. These guiding ribs or conveyor vanes merely serve for transporting the material and therefore are not subjected to any material wear. In contrast thereto, the stripper rail ll is continuously subjected to considerable wear so that this stripper rail 11 will have to exchanged frequently. This is particularly simple with the arrangement according to the invention when the rail is subdivided in its longitudinal direction.

According to the embodiment of FIG. 5, the guiding plate [3 is provided with an angled ofl portion which forms the holding strip 18 according to FIG. 3. The stripper rail II is connected, for instance, by screws 2! to the said angled off portion 20.

For purposes of adjusting the stripper rail II which, as indicated in FIG. 6, is provided with a curved and tapering longitudinal marginal area 14 or may be equipped with a hard metal, the stripper rail II, the strip 18 or the angled off portion 20 may be provided with an oblong hole 22 whereby the rail. will be adjustable in the direction of the double arrow M. In order to be able to adjust the rail 11 in the direction of the arrow L which is perpendicular to the direction of the double arrow M, one or more washers or strips 23 may be provided.

When the rail ll has worn because it alone is subjected to considerable wear in view of the scraping off of the material to be dried from the inner wall of the drum, the rail It or the most worn sections of the multisectional rail may easily be exchanged.

The pipe IS and the guiding plate 13 may be extended to the level of the inlet and outlet openings 4, 6 while at the level of these openings on the part 13 or supporting ribs I6 there may be provided guiding and conveying plates 25 which serve the specific purpose of feeding material into the interior of the drum and removing the material from the drum.

According to the embodiment of FIG. 7, the guiding plate I3 and the supporting ribs l6 are designed similar to those of the embodiments according to FIGS. 3, 5 and 6. The stripper rail II is detachably connected to the angled off portion 20 which may also be replaced by a holding rail 18. Mounted on the stripper rail II and spaced from each other by l0 and 20 centimeters there are finger-shaped prongs 26 the front end 26a of which protrudes beyond the front edge Ila of the rail I1 and is here equipped, for instance, with a hard metal plate 27. In view of the finger-shaped prongs, larger foreign bodies are broken out of the layer on the interior of the drum without said layer breaking off to a greater extent from the interior of the drum wall, whereby the said drum wall would be without the insulating protection by the mud layer with the result that a local overheating of the wall by the hot burner flame or gases would occur. The prongs 26 may at the front end be bent similar to the stripper rail II at the longitudinal edge 24 (FIG. 6). The prongs 26 on the rail II may be displaceable if desired but generally it will be sufficient that the prongs are welded to the rail I 1.

It is, of course, to be understood that the present invention is, by no means, limited to the particular showing in the drawings but also comprises any modifications within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

I. A rotary drum drier for centrifuged mud, especially pond mud, which includes a drum, means leading axially into said drum for producing drying heat in said drum in a direction opposite to direction of forwarding of the mud, supporting means extending into said drum in the axial direction thereof, rail-shaped stripper knife means detachably mounted on said supporting means, said drum and said stripper knife means being rotatable relative to each other always at uniform spacing and said knife means being operable in response to a rotation of said drum relative to said stripper knife means to strip from the inner wall surface of said drum material to be dried which has been deposited on said inner wall surface of said drum and guiding means supported by said supporting means and said rail-shaped stripper knife means and guiding means being spatially connected with each other though operatively independent of each other for guiding stripped-off material toward the interior of said drum, said guiding means being formed by plane surface plates spaced from each other and extending in the direction toward the interior of said drum.

2. A rotary drum drier for centrifuged mud, especially pond mud, which includes a drum, means leading axially into said drum for producing drying heat in said drum in a direction opposite to direction of forwarding of the mud, supporting means extending into said drum in the axial direction thereof, rail-shaped stripper knife means detachably mounted on said supporting means, said drum and said stripper knife means being rotatable relative to each other always at uniform spacing and said knife means being operable in response to a rotation of said drum relative to said stripper knife means to strip from the inner wall surface of said drum material to be dried which has been deposited on said inner wall surface of said drum, guiding means supported by said supporting means and said rail-shaped stripper knife means and guiding means being spatially connected with each other though operatively independent of each other for guiding stripped-off material toward the interior of said drum, and plate means spaced from each other and supported by said supporting means and in its turn supporting said guiding means and said knife means. said plate means extending in the longitudinal direction of said drum so as to prevent material stripped off by said knife means from the inner wall surface of said drum from returning to said inner wall surface of said drum.

3, A drum drier according to claim 2, in which adjusting means with said knife means are adjustably supported by said supporting means including uniform length radial ribs.

4. A drum drier according to claim 3, in which said supporting means includes a transversely stiff pipe extending at least over the major portion of the axial length of said drum.

5. A drum drier according to claim 2, in which adjusting means with said knife means are adjustable parallel to the central plane of said plate means and perpendicular thereto throughout supporting means axial length.

6. A rotary drum drier for centrifuged mud, especially pond mud, which includes a drum, means leading axially into said drum for producing drying heat in said drum in a direction opposite to direction of forwarding of the mud, supporting means extending into said drum in the axial direction thereof, rail-shaped stripper knife means dctachably mounted on said supporting means, said drum and said stripper knife means being rotatable relative to each other always at uniform spacing and said knife means being operable in response to a rotation of said drum relative to said stripper knife means to strip from the inner wall surface of said drum material to be dried which has been deposited on said inner wall surface of said drum, and guiding means supported by said supporting means and said rail-shaped stripper knife means and guiding means being spatially connected with each other though operatively independent of each other for guiding stripped-off material toward the interior of said drum, said stripper knife means being composed ofa plurality of sections uniformly spaced in the longitudinal direction of said drum.

1. A rotarydmrhdrierforcetlriugedmdxapecflh pond mud, which includes a drum, means leading axially into said I drum for producing drying heat in said drum in a direction opposite to direction of forwarding of the mud. supporting means extending into said drum in the axial direction thereof, rail-shaped stripper knife means detachably mounted on said supporting means, said drum and said stripper knife means being rotatable relative to each other always at uniform spacing and said knife means being operable in response to a rotation of said drum relative to said stripper knife means to strip from the inner wall surface of said drum material to be dried which has been deposited on said inner wall surface of said drum, and guiding means supported by said supporting means and said rail-shaped stripper knife means and guiding means being spatially connected with each other though operatively independent of each other for guiding stripped-off material toward the interior of said drum, said knife means and said guiding means being uniformly spaced from each other and being adjustable independently of each other.

8, A rotary drum drier for centrifuged mud. especially pond mud. which includes a drum, means leading axially into said drum for producing drying heat in said drum in a direction opposite to direction of forwarding of the mud, supporting means extending into said drum in the axial direction thereof,

rail-shapcd stripper knife means detachably mounted on said supporting means. said drum and said stripper knife means being rotatable relative to each other always at uniform spacing and said knife means being operable in response to rotation of said drum relative to said stripper knife means to strip from the inner wall surface of said drum material to be dried which has been deposited on said inner wall surface of said drum, guiding means supported by said supporting means and said rail-shaped stripper knife means and guiding means being spatially connected with each other though operatively independent of each other for guiding stripped-off material toward the interior of said drum, and a plurality of finger-shaped prong means arranged in uniformly spaced relationship to each other on said stripper knife means, the front end of said prong means protruding beyond the front edge of said stripper knife means.

9. A drum driver according to claim 8, in which the front end of said prong means is formed by wear-resistant readily replaceable and interchangeable plate means.

It). A rotary drum driver for centrifuged mud, especially pond mud, which includes a drum, means leading axially into said drum for producing drying heat in said drum in a direction opposite to direction of forwarding of the mud, supporting means extending into said drum in the axial direction thereof, rail-shaped stripper knife means detachably mounted on said supporting means, said drum and said stripper knife means being rotatable relative to each other always at uniform spacing and said knife means being operable in response to a rotation of said drum relative to said stripper knife means to strip from the inner wall surface of said drum material to be dried which has been deposited on said inner wall surface of said drum, and guiding means supported by said supporting means and said railshaped stripper knife means and guiding means being spatially connected with each other though operatively independent of each other for guiding stripped-off material toward the interior of said drum, said drum having inlet and outlet openings complementary to stripper knife means and also comprises bent guiding and conveying plates respectively arranged in said drum at the level of said inlet and outlet openings. 

1. A rotary drum drier for centrifuged mud, especially pond mud, which includes a drum, means leading axially into said drum for producing drying heat in said drum in a direction opposite to direction of forwarding of the mud, supporting means extending into said drum in the axial direction thereof, rail-shaped stripper knife means detachably mounted on said supporting means, said drum and said stripper knife means being rotatable relative to each other always at uniform spacing and said knife means being operable in response to a rotation of said drum relative to said stripper knife means to strip from the inner wall surface of said drum material to be dried which has been deposited on said inner wall surface of said drum and guiding means supported by said supporting means and said rail-shaped stripper knife means and guiding meaNs being spatially connected with each other though operatively independent of each other for guiding stripped-off material toward the interior of said drum, said guiding means being formed by plane surface plates spaced from each other and extending in the direction toward the interior of said drum.
 2. A rotary drum drier for centrifuged mud, especially pond mud, which includes a drum, means leading axially into said drum for producing drying heat in said drum in a direction opposite to direction of forwarding of the mud, supporting means extending into said drum in the axial direction thereof, rail-shaped stripper knife means detachably mounted on said supporting means, said drum and said stripper knife means being rotatable relative to each other always at uniform spacing and said knife means being operable in response to a rotation of said drum relative to said stripper knife means to strip from the inner wall surface of said drum material to be dried which has been deposited on said inner wall surface of said drum, guiding means supported by said supporting means and said rail-shaped stripper knife means and guiding means being spatially connected with each other though operatively independent of each other for guiding stripped-off material toward the interior of said drum, and plate means spaced from each other and supported by said supporting means and in its turn supporting said guiding means and said knife means, said plate means extending in the longitudinal direction of said drum so as to prevent material stripped off by said knife means from the inner wall surface of said drum from returning to said inner wall surface of said drum. 3, A drum drier according to claim 2, in which adjusting means with said knife means are adjustably supported by said supporting means including uniform length radial ribs.
 4. A drum drier according to claim 3, in which said supporting means includes a transversely stiff pipe extending at least over the major portion of the axial length of said drum.
 5. A drum drier according to claim 2, in which adjusting means with said knife means are adjustable parallel to the central plane of said plate means and perpendicular thereto throughout supporting means axial length.
 6. A rotary drum drier for centrifuged mud, especially pond mud, which includes a drum, means leading axially into said drum for producing drying heat in said drum in a direction opposite to direction of forwarding of the mud, supporting means extending into said drum in the axial direction thereof, rail-shaped stripper knife means detachably mounted on said supporting means, said drum and said stripper knife means being rotatable relative to each other always at uniform spacing and said knife means being operable in response to a rotation of said drum relative to said stripper knife means to strip from the inner wall surface of said drum material to be dried which has been deposited on said inner wall surface of said drum, and guiding means supported by said supporting means and said rail-shaped stripper knife means and guiding means being spatially connected with each other though operatively independent of each other for guiding stripped-off material toward the interior of said drum, said stripper knife means being composed of a plurality of sections uniformly spaced in the longitudinal direction of said drum.
 8. A rotary drum drier for centrifuged mud, especially pond mud, which includes a drum, means leading axially into said drum for producing drying heat in said drum in a direction opposite to direction of forwarding of the mud, supporting means extending into said drum in the axial direction thereof, rail-shaped stripper knife means detachably mounted on said supporting means, said drum and said stripper knife means being rotatable relative to each other always at uniform spacing and said knife means being operable in response to rotation of said drum relative to said stripper knife means to strip from the inner wall surface of said drum material to be dried which has been deposited on said inner wall surface of said drum, guiding means supported by said supporting means and said rail-shaped stripper knife means and guiding means being spatially connected with each other though operatively independent of each other for guiding stripped-off material toward the interior of said drum, and a plurality of finger-shaped prong means arranged in uniformly spaced relationship to each other on said stripper knife means, the front end of said prong means protruding beyond the front edge of said stripper knife means.
 8. A rotary drum drier for centrifuged mud, especially pond mud, which includes a drum, means leading axially into said drum for producing drying heat in said drum in a direction opposite to direction of forwarding of the mud, supporting means extending into said drum in the axial direction thereof, rail-shaped stripper knife means detachably mounted on said supporting means, said drum and said stripper knife means being rotatable relative to each other always at uniform spacing and said knife means being operable in response to a rotation of said drum relative to said stripper knife means to strip from the inner wall surface of said drum material tO be dried which has been deposited on said inner wall surface of said drum, and guiding means supported by said supporting means and said rail-shaped stripper knife means and guiding means being spatially connected with each other though operatively independent of each other for guiding stripped-off material toward the interior of said drum, said knife means and said guiding means being uniformly spaced from each other and being adjustable independently of each other.
 9. A drum driver according to claim 8, in which the front end of said prong means is formed by wear-resistant readily replaceable and interchangeable plate means.
 10. A rotary drum driver for centrifuged mud, especially pond mud, which includes a drum, means leading axially into said drum for producing drying heat in said drum in a direction opposite to direction of forwarding of the mud, supporting means extending into said drum in the axial direction thereof, rail-shaped stripper knife means detachably mounted on said supporting means, said drum and said stripper knife means being rotatable relative to each other always at uniform spacing and said knife means being operable in response to a rotation of said drum relative to said stripper knife means to strip from the inner wall surface of said drum material to be dried which has been deposited on said inner wall surface of said drum, and guiding means supported by said supporting means and said rail-shaped stripper knife means and guiding means being spatially connected with each other though operatively independent of each other for guiding stripped-off material toward the interior of said drum, said drum having inlet and outlet openings complementary to stripper knife means and also comprises bent guiding and conveying plates respectively arranged in said drum at the level of said inlet and outlet openings. 